Not Just Another Sports Cart!

NCAA Basketball by HAL America will blow your mind! This game utilizes some of the most incredible scaling and rotation ever seen on a home game. The Mode 7 effects must be seen to be believed! Pick your competitors from any number of NCAA teams of the different conferences. Then, take to the courts and destroy your opponent with your killer shooting and defense. You can even substitute players! NCAA Basketball is definitely one sports cart to keep an eye out for in stores. Get ready to play video basketball the way it was meant to be played. Try not to get dizzy!!

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NCAA Basketball Downloads

Basketball games have leaped into a new dimension! NCAA Basketball has all the thrills and spills of an actual game with the addition of some fantastic Mode 7 effects! The court scales and rotates with every move you make! You have a choice of five divisions with nine games in each division. Head onto the court and shoot some hoops. As your players become tired, you can substitute in better players.

People say:

8

This game provides owners of the Super NES with an absolutely incredible, in-your-face basketball simulation that not only takes full advantage of the system's Mode 7 scaling and rotation, but also puts up a decent game of b-ball to boot! A laid back approach that always remains realistic makes this cart a blast in my book!

8

There soon will be a bunch of new basketball games for the S-NES. Which one to buy? I recommend this one because of its unique first person perspective. It won't be for everyone as purists will still want a top notch overhead game. Still, for a new view to an old sport you ought to give this one a try. You won't be disappointed!

8

This is probably the most realistic B-ball game that I've ever played. The new first person perspective in unbelievable and puts you right into the game. The graphics are a little choppy, but for the overall effect HAL did great. I have a feeling that HAL will be for Super NES what EA is for Genesis when it comes to sports titles.

8

This is innovation in the making! I'll bet that if Hal America makes a sequel to this, it will be ever better! The graphics are a little choppy, but the all-new perspective incorporating full-field scaling is very impressive. If you are really into basketball, but don't feel like you are on the court with most games, check this out!

reggie posted a review

Nintendo's NCAA Basketball breaks the b-ball mold. It starts fresh with a new look, style of play, and approach to video basketball. The results are stunning.

Educated Basketball

NCAA packs five top National Collegiate Athletic Association conferences: the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big East, the Big Eight, the Southeastern Conference, and the Southwestern Conference. Obviously, several high-profile conferences and independents are missing, but the 44-team selection is good. The squads are represented by authentic logos and jersey colors.

Collegiate sports regulations require fake player names. However, the real ‘90-'91 season statistics combine with your skills to determine a play's outcome! For example, a poor foul shooter in real life must contend with a faster moving and more difficult free throw interface in the video game. Your performance is tallied over the course of each contest, but you can't save your new stats, or customize teams.

In Your Face!

Abandoning the run-of-the-mill, side-view, hoops game formula, NCAA's camera looks over the ball handler's shoulder as he dribbles up the court. If you turn, the screen turns! The view rotates and zooms to follow the ball's flight during a pass. The breathtaking visual perspective sports sharp character details; crisp, non-choppy animation; and expertly shaded court features. Perfection would include a crowd rendition and an instant replay. Still, you'll gobble up the graphics, and ask for seconds!

NCAA's excellent, arcade-quality action gives you a thorough workout. Precise controls enable you to toggle between players, shoot, pass, jump, block, and steal. A useful passing icon indicates a target player's position and the proximity of opposing defenders. In the paint, you get five showboatin' dunks. A ref's voice calls 'em as he sees 'em, but he doesn't always see 'em, just like in the real thing. The b-ball sound effects and theme songs are good, but better crowd noise and more music is needed.

ProTip: When you're all alone under an opponent's basket, stop and pop just as he starts to foul.

NCAA does a good job of capturing on court strategy. This game's seven-formation, on-the-fiy play calling is a first for 16-bit basketball games. The single button interface hampers instant selection, but it's still an innovative, game improving idea. At the top-notch coach's screen, you can pull fatigued players and go to your bench, crash the boards, call for a fast break, examine the stats, and call time-outs. Missing, however, is a full court press. Also, you can't command your team to foul in the waning moments of the game. You must do it manually.

Pause the game, and then call your play.

Spin and drive the lane while an immobilized opponent attempts to steal.

March Madness

You can play NCAA against the computer or a friend. The one-player, 18-game Season mode culminates with passwords in the invitation only NCAA tournament. HAL America Inc., the actual developers of NCAA, consulted each team's coach to gather realistic computer strategies. Although entering the Big Dance is a thrill, definitely fire up NCAA in two-player mode and take advantage of the difficulty, the time limit, and the team selection options.

Dunk through the back of the backboard.

HAL went back to the drawing boards to create NCAA Basketball, and the game's a fine example of graphics, sports realism, and game play working together to form a great game. NCAA Basketball makes almost all the right moves.

reggie posted a review

One of the most ambitious sports projects for 1992 is Hal America's NCAA Basketball. Hal has licensed the NCAA (that's “National Collegiate Athletic Association” for you cave dwellers) for their SNES basketball game. It's never been done for ANY video game system yet. Since college basketball players are amateurs, they can't enter into licensing agreements. They aren't allowed to be paid for being the pseudo-celebrities that they are. So their names and likenesses won't be in NCAA Basketball.

Hal has included five real NCAA conferences (the Big East, the Atlantic Coast conference, the Southeast Conference, the Southwest Conference and the Big Eight) and actual 1991 player and team statistics. The players' names are fictional, but the teams are real.
Creating a college sports game is ambitious, but the way the game plays is the real selling feature of NCAA Basketball. The entire game is presented from a first-person perspective. You'll get an accurate view of the court as your player brings the ball up. When you pass, the angle shifts to the new ballhandler.